‘Gov’t will not name Stadium Stands’ says Minister Henry

Aug 23, 2015 Sports

By Sean Devers

The new Guyana Government, like the past Administration, has no intention of naming the stands at the Providence Stadium after Guyana’s most outstanding cricketers according to Junior Minister within the Education Ministry with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sports, Nicolette Henry.
“No that will not be done since it could cause controversy as to who are the most outstanding and whose name should be used and I don’t want to have to spend the next five years defending the naming of the stands” Minister Henry told Kaieteur Sports last Friday.
She disclosed that when the matter came up during plans for Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary next year, the idea was shot down. Most of the International grounds in the West Indies have names on them in honor of past outstanding Players, Administrators, Umpires or those who have Broadcasted or Written on West Indies cricket.
However, after eight years of existence as Guyana’s only International cricket ground, the stands at the Providence Stadium are still named Red, Green, Orange and Grass Mound.
The Stadium was built for the 2007 Cricket World Cup and replaced the famous Bourda in Georgetown as Guyana’s Test venue but has only hosted two Test matches due to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) dispute with the previous Guyana Government.
Bourda, the venue for the first West Indies Test victory in 1930 against England, named stands at that ground after the most successful West Indies Captain Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, arguably Guyana’s accomplished batsman and Guyana’s, West Indies best off-spinner Lance Gibbs and outstanding cricket Administrator the late Kenny Wishart who made a half-century in his only Test.
The late Roy Fredericks, who died age 57 in 2000, holds the record as the only player in the World to score a First Class double century while serving as a Government Minister. He made 217 against Jamaica at Bourda in 1983 while he was the Minister of Sports in the Forbes Burnham PNC Government and was Guyana’s best opening batsman. It is also felt by many that the names of Alvin Kallicharran, Guyana’s most complete batsman, Shiv Chanderpaul, Guyana’s highest run-scorer in Test cricket, fast bowler Colin Croft, who has the most wickets by a Guyana pacer in Test cricket and Broadcasting icon Joseph ‘Reds’ Perriera should be affixed to the Stands at Providence.
The Red Stand could be the Clive Lloyd Stand, the Green Stand the Rohan Kanhai, the Orange the Roy Fredericks Stand, the Mound the Alvin Kallicharran Mound, the VIP Stand the Shiv Chanderpaul stand, the Media Centre the Reds Perriera Media Centre. Croft and Gibbs are bowlers and it would be fitting to have their names on the two ends to inspire bowlers who operate from those ends.
Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnarine, who also is also responsible for Sports played First-Class cricket during the same era as Lloyd, Kanhai, Kallicharran, Fredericks and Gibbs. But it seems the stands at Providence will remain as they are, at least for the next five years.

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‘Gov’t will not name Stadium Stands’ says Minister Henry

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